Saturday, February 5, 2011

Lets Talk Blood Sugar

I had GD or missed the mark by 1pt (failing one number and missing one more by under 1 point) for the last 3 pregnancies and the size of my babies prove that one point cutoff is ridiculous and I had GD. Unfortunately Drs just say to cut the sugar blah blah blah....real helpful, NOT. Never gave me a glucose monitor or even sent me to a nutritionist??? So I forgot about it and moved on with my life until I recently got the highish A1C reading on my blood work. Im truly praying that when we get off this mountain and get more sun, as vitamin D levels normalize, so will my blood sugar. I am not entirely sure that will happen though as my grandmother died at 54 after being on dialysis for 3 years, having no sight left and 5 massive heart attacks all due to diabetes complications, my dad was diagnosed diabetic in an emergency room with sugars over 500(yes he was VERY sick) and my aunt and one uncle on my moms side are also diabetic. My odds suck. Plain. And. Simple. So I decided to start checking my sugars here and there to see what foods(I mean I eat super healthy) were causing issues. Oddly enough most foods I tolerate very well with blood sugar dropping back into the high 80's or low 90's within 2 hours. My problem seems to be lunch/afternoon snack. My blood sugar is just shooting straight to 140 by one 1 hour and 160 by 2 hours, then 140, 3 hours post parandial. I am trying to stop the afternoon snacking in order to keep my blood sugar more stable. I have learned that snacking is not good for my system. After breakfast I peak about 1 hour post meal around 115-120 and then drop shortly after. I do typically have cinnamon at breakfast on my oats or Quinoa and I read cinnamon lowers sugar so maybe thats why. At dinner I never go over 100 and heres why I think that is. I am practically french at heart, not a lush, definately in moderation......but I drink a glass of red wine with dinner EVERY single night. Its my guilty pleasure and apparently it may be saving me too lol. I can even eat a homemade whole wheat choco chip cookie after dinner and BS never went over 101. ??? Crazy huh. Im half tempted to make my wine at dinner only 3 ounces and have the other 3 ounces with lunch and see what happens. I rarely drink more than 6 ounces of wine a day anyhow so why not split it up? But really I am afraid it may make me a tad lazy midday which I dont want either. hmmmm what to do. I am going to try for almost no carbs midday for a few days and see what happens. I most certainly dont want my BS in the 160s like EVER. Anyone struggling with normalizing blood sugars? This is all new to me so if you have any advice I am all ears and I guess I should say I am not diabetic(YET) but have been diagnosed glucose intolerant since I was 23. Oddly my FBS are usually 88-95 so they arent really all that high. Its my post parandial sugars that are obviously driving up my A1C's. FBS does go up to 119ish when preggo but drop as soon as I deliver. Anyhow I have always just tried and thought I was eating right. This is the first time I ever tried getting a real picture of what was going on and Im now trying to get a handle on these sugars. At least I know now that snacking is a big no no for me. I used to think it was healthy to snack every two hours on nuts, V8, string cheese etc. Not so much.

4 comments:

No advice, just ((((((HUGS))))))) we are dealing with BS issues here as well because DH's fasting sugars were borderline/ "prediabetic" this year at his annual exam. He is working on losing weight and then it will be retested this spring some time.

Since I'm not monitoring though I don't know how they are doing throughout the day!

I have no idea what those different blood sugar counts mean. I have a huge family history for diabetes, and one sister who was late onset type 1, which is classified as type 2 though it was not a lifestyle cause. All I can say is that I gain weight in my hips/butt, and they gain theirs in the waist, and I exercise more than any of them. I just keep my fingers crossed and try not to eat junk. Good luck figuring it all out.

That is so weird that you had GD but didn't have to monitor blood sugar or see a nutritionist. I live in Canada and I was given a blood glucose monitor and get a half day course on managing blood sugar and diet. On top of my OB visits, I also had to meet with an endocrinologist (sp?) every two weeks to discuss my glucose readings.

Anyway, one of the things I learned was that snacking is important and carbs (good ones from fruits/veggies/whole grains, and milk products) are essential to managing glucose levels. If our bodies do not get enough of the good carbs (always with some protein and/or good fat) our body will break down fat or muscle to make glucose for energy - this is produces ketones which can be hard on your liver. Going hours without eating can also lead to this, which is why diabetics are encouraged to not go longer than 3 - 4 hours without eating during the day.

So perhaps it's not the snacking per se, but what you are having for lunch and snacks. I`m sure it`s healthy but perhaps not the right balance of carb/protein/fat?

The daily intake of vitamin d used to be 400iu but I believe since it has been changed to 4000iu. I take 4000iu because I too am deficient in vit d and that is the dosage my doc recommends. So maybe a higher dosage would be more benificial.

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About Me

I am a passionate organic farmer and mama of soon to be 9. Our family lives on our dream property on the outskirts of a small town in Oregon where we own and run a certified organic vegetable farm. I share our lives, our love of veggies, keeping things natural, and musings of wild and free spirited kids here. I live full of gratitude for the life we have created!